Download - How to achieve fluid traffic
Kanton Basel-Stadt
How to achieve fluid trafficObjectives, instruments and limits of traffic management
Alain Groff, Office for Mobility, Canton of Basel-Stadt
Some figures about Basel
Tools for measuring traffic and informing drivers
Influencing factors: let’s get down to the roots
Situative traffic management: Benefits and tools
Improving traffic conditions: a strategic approach
Adaptive traffic lights: priority to high capacity modes
Conclusion
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Overview
Area: 37 km2 (city 24)
Population: 197’000 (city 175’000)
Persons employed: 190’000
Commuters inbound : 100’000 (35’500 cross-border)
Outbound commuters: 25’000
Private cars: 63’000
PT card owners: 73’000
Modal split (trips made by inhabitants of the city):
18 % private car, 27 % public transport, 16 % bicycle, 37 % walking
Some figures about canton Basel-Stadt
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Permanent traffic counting devices (long-term monitoring)
Traffic flow modelling
regional simulation model for traffic quantities
local simulation tools for capacity evaluation
Vehicle capturing at traffic lights (also used for ex post analyses)
Privately generated and sold flow data (TomTom e.g.)
Tools used in Basel for counting / detecting
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Inductive loops capturing and counting vehicles
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Counting by capturing loops: detailed results
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Integrated mobility planning also count pedestrians
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Traffic flow modelling software output
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Local flow modelling software output
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Adaptive speed limits, dynamic warning signs and adaptive direction signs on the motorway for
exceptional situations
Real-time information displays for urban public transport
Real-time route planners on the internet
Routing and ticketing apps issued by PT companies
Tools used in Basel for information of drivers and riders
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Adaptive speed limits and warning signs
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Dynamic information on PT
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Activities mostly need mobility
Mobility mostly needs (motorized) transport
Transport generates traffic
Too much road traffic generates traffic jams
My choice, my behaviour our mobility, our traffic (jam)
The most efficient way to manage traffic problems:
give people the freedom to reach their activities without using the car
Reducing traffic jams by traffic management is like using the elevator because your legs hurt:
The problem at the root is getting worse!
Influencing factors: Getting down to the root
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Local mobility or motorized immobility?
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Traffic volume is a direct product of
spatial planning and density
land-use in the different areas (housing, working, leisure, shops)
urban design and quality of life, especially in residential quarters
Shorter distances for accessing activities and a safe and efficient walking / cycling network are
likely to raise the share of non motorized trips. Pedestrians and cyclists need very little space.
Attractive and reliable public transport is essential to reduce the need for using private cars.
PT is highly efficient in the use of road capacity, and doesn’t waste public space in dense
central areas for parking.
Getting down to the root
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Intelligent allocation of scarce space
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Information and redistribution of traffic flows in case of
Exceptional events (concert, sport, fair,…) and traffic disruptions (accidents, road works,…)
Exceptional, not daily peaks (holiday weekend, vacation, christmas …)
Tools: website/app, variable message sign or changeable direction sign
Limited benefits of re-routing during daily peak hours’ traffic jams
Drivers rely on apps or navigation device rather than on official signs
Many drivers cannot change travel time or route even if recommended
During peak hours, alternative routes tend to be congested as well
Secondary roads are no suitable overflow devices for congested main roads
Situative re-routing: yes, for exceptions
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Dropper traffic lights at motorway or tunnel
Gatekeeper traffic lights on radials at the city entrance
Lane closure signalling on motorway ahead of entrance
Directing heavy trucks to parking zones ahead of tunnel / border when needed
Temporary opening of emergency lane for running traffic
Dynamic bus lane operated in both directions or in counterflow mode
Benefits
Keep traffic fluid
Give drivers the most relevant information, avoid misrouting
Give priority to PT where space for additional lane is not available
TM in Switzerland: further tools and their benefits
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Dropper traffic light at the motorway entrance
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Gatekeeper traffic lights on radials
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Opening of emergency lane during peak hours
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Transport strategy based on seven pillars
Developing public transport and intermodality
Dosing road traffic and directing it to performant main roads
Limiting public parking offer and managing on-street parking
Influencing traffic demand by mobility management (services, campaigns etc.)
Completing the walking and cycling networks to make them safe and comfortable
Upgrading public space and allowing for short trips
Making freight traffic more efficient and reducing its negative effects
Transport policy in Basel: an integrated approach
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Less traffic jams than in smaller urban areas of Switzerland
Slow decrease of motorized traffic within the city, while employment and population figures are
rising
High quality of life in residential areas taking advantage of calming measures
Improved road safety based on the principle of mutual respect
Transport policy in Basel: the results
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Transport policy in Basel: the graphs
Car traffic decreasing
Accidents decreasing
Motorization low
Air pollution stable
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Kanton Basel-Stadt
Traffic evolution 2010-15 in Basel
9998 99 98 97
101100
101 101
101100
103
105
108
103
104105 106
109
103103
104
115
118
95
100
105
110
115
120
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
PT
Bicycle
Car traffic
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Basel: not more traffic jams than in a province town
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Kanton Basel-Stadt
More and more commuters
+20’000 jobs
+9’000 inhabitants
+200 private cars
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Reduce risk of disturbances (accidents, double-parking,…)
Focus on intersections’ capacity, not on sections inbetween
Avoid left-turns with separate trafffic light phases
Short cycles mean short waiting times for everybody, good acceptance
No wasted seconds
detect waiting vehicles and vehicles queued up behind the intersection
Our key issue is not to improve travel times for car drivers,
but to provide optimum use of time and space
Traffic management: some pragmatic clues
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Detecting traffic queues and avoiding gridlock
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Wasted public space sufficient road capacity
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Optimization focussing on the single intersection, not the network
«Green waves» for car traffic only on few sections, where it is really dominant
Smaller overseeable intersections mean less complex phase sequences
Short cycles, mostly of variable duration
Phase sequence and duration adapted to momentary detection of vehicles / pedestrians
High priority for tram and bus, green light only when asked for
«free green» whenever possible, maximum waiting times applying
Number of traffic lights at intersections and their operating times limited to the strictly
necessary places and hours (safety of tram operation e.g.)
Adaptive traffic lights: maximum local intelligence
Features of traffic light control in Basel
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Call point sequence for public transport
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Capturing car traffic at TL controlled intersections
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Green light for PT when required
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The most performant traffic lights: no traffic lights
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Targets (level of service) defined for all traffic streams at the intersection, based on objective
criteria and general political strategy
Programming of control software is taking the targets into account
Technical waiting times captured and processed by an analysis software
Daily documentation of the difference between actual and targetted LOS
Target-oriented modification of programme possible
Technical failures easily spotted
Traffic lights control strategy for Basel
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TLCS: quality assessment and daily monitoring
Dosing traffic proves to be an effective tool to reduce traffic volume within an area (reduction
goal established in cantonal law)
Politically delicate: city gate effect, congestion transferred to neighbouring areas
Beware risk of rat running and overload of secondary roads
Planners are currently working on coherent «packages» of dosing crossroads
Planned traffic management concept for Basel
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Economical reasoning:
Car driver is paying for his personal contribution to time lost by others
PT rider’s is paying a price proportional to the incremental cost of use
Politically delicate, especially when applied to restricted areas
The payers may be those who cannot chose hour of travel or place of living and working place;
tricky social effects («commuters are punished»)
Complicated payment systems or complete electronic capture of movements (privacy issues)
Risk of undesired modal shift towards private car
thorough implementation required
Replacing flat rate season tickets in public transport could reduce number of trips, but also give
incentive for shorter commuting distance
Mobility pricing: a suitable tool to reduce peaks?
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Less traffic peaks thanks to differentiated pricing?
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A long-term policy aiming at a reduction of car traffic volume is more effective than trying to re-
route car drivers within an overloaded network
The most important traffic management tool is an intelligent and differentiated traffic lights’
control programming
Maximum efficiency at the single intersection and PT priority implies less network co-ordination
and «green waves» for cars
Programme quality should be monitored in order to spot technical failures or potential for
control optimization
The traffic jam is now and here.
The measures to sustainably reduce traffic jams are requiring long-term strategies and an
approach which is rather regional than local.
Conclusion
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